Isabel II and Her General Staff, on Horseback
Artist: Charles Porion (French, 1814-1884)
Date: c. 1862
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Description
This large-format group portrait is an ideal representation of the General Staff of the Spanish Army. In the centre of the composition Queen Isabel II, dressed in the uniform of captain general, wearing the Golden Fleece around her neck and the band of the Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III with its scallop shell across her chest; on her chest and under her lapel two other Grand Crosses can be seen, that of Charles III and Isabel la CatĆ³lica (Project cataloguing heraldic and phaleristic elements, Royal Academy of Heraldry and Genealogy of Madrid).
The queen heads the cavalcade accompanied by her husband Francisco de AsĆs de BorbĆ³n y BorbĆ³n Dos Sicilias , also dressed as a captain general, and by Francisco de Paula , infante of Spain . Accompanying the young queen, Porion portrays some of the military men who took part in the final days of Isabel II 's government: NarvĆ”ez, O'Donell and Prim, who appear prominently alongside other generals who had already died at the time the work was created, such as Digo de LeĆ³n and Palafox.
